


Talk the Night Through

by lululawrence



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: 1990s, Airports, Alternate Universe, American Harry Styles, American Louis Tomlinson, Chat rooms, Flirting, Fluff, Long-Distance Friendship, M/M, Meet-Cute, No Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:36:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25241770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lululawrence/pseuds/lululawrence
Summary: It's 1995 and a chat room is the last place Harry ever expects to find the love of his life.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Comments: 19
Kudos: 160
Collections: Prompt 2.4: Bronze





	Talk the Night Through

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RecycledStardust](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RecycledStardust/gifts).



> I was told a gorgeous story by the amazing [Lynda](https://wait4ever.tumblr.com) about a year ago regarding something that actually happened to her and a man she referred to as "the love of my life that never was". Obviously I had to write about it, and now is my chance. So surprise! Here's the fic! hehe Thank you for sharing that story with me, Lynda!
> 
> This is also part of a Wordplay prompt challenge for the prompt "bronze". To read the amazing fics that were written by the others on this prompt, [click here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/bronze), and to see all fics written as part of the challenge (including years 1-3), [click here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/wordplay_fic_challenge/works). You can also find the masterpost for this year’s challenge [here](https://wordplayfics.tumblr.com/post/622306139518926848/wordplay-2020-every-week-for-five-weeks-a-prompt).
> 
> Massive thanks to [Molly](https://becomeawendybird.tumblr.com) for her gorgeous beta skills! All remaining mistakes are mine alone.
> 
> Title comes from Roll to Me from Del Amitri because the music from 1995 was fucking fantastic. This is a work of fiction, please don't share with anyone associated with the band etc and please don't translate or repost without my express permission. Thank you!

Harry twirled in his chair a little bit as he listened to his internet dial up. He’d heard about some upgrades a few friends of his had, but they weren’t available in his area. He couldn’t wait until he could get a faster connection. It would make chatting so much easier and, at this point in his life, most of his excitement and mental stretching came from the various chatrooms he frequented.

The beeps and screeches coming from his computer stopped and he quickly spun back to look at the screen. The connection had been made and he smiled to himself, clicking onto Internet Explorer. He was so much happier with it as opposed to Netscape. It experienced far less lag, even with his slower connection.

He quickly navigated to his favorite chatroom and logged in. He’d explored all sorts of various internet options ever since he had been able to get dial-up internet at his house. He had become very happy with the small collection of fairly active chat rooms that he’d found. He had made some good friends like Niall in one chat focused on talking about things like hair bands and possibly meeting up for the REO Speedwagon and Fleetwood Mac concert in LA next month.

Deciding to log into the LGBT chat tonight for a bit of solidarity after yet another awkward conversation with a coworker, Harry settled in happily when he saw one of his favorite contributors to the chat, Payn068, was active.

A good conversation was already in the works supporting another regular chat participant who had just come out to her grandmother. Harry threw himself into it and before long the timer he set to go off every hour was going off reminding him of time passing. It was the only way he knew to be sure he kept track of how many minutes he used. AOL had been talking about the possibility of offering unlimited minutes with a monthly plan and he prayed it rolled out soon. He went over on his minutes almost every month, but he had been doing better with his timer to help hold him accountable.

He got up, reset the timer, and then walked back to the computer. He could do one more hour tonight and then he really did need to get to bed. He had an early work day tomorrow.

When he sat back down, he was surprised to see an individual chat request from someone he didn’t know.

_ L66Tommo: She walks in beauty, like the night _ _  
_ _ L66Tommo: Of cloudless climes and and starry skies; _ _  
_ _ L66Tommo: And all that’s best of dark and bright _ _  
_ _ L66Tommo: Meet in her aspect and her eyes _

As Harry read the opening to one of his favorite poems possibly ever, he felt like he had fallen into a film or something. Who was this person messaging him romantic poetry?

_ StylishStyles: Lord Byron, is that you? _

Harry bit his nail as he waited for a response from L, and thankfully it seemed that he was a fast typer, because one came quickly.

_ L66Tommo: Of course it is, come back from the dead to haunt all those who still have nightmares of dissecting his poetry, haha! _

Scrunching his brows, Harry paused before quickly typing back.

_ StylishStyles: Oh, did you have a difficult poetry course in college? _

_ L66Tommo: ...yes? Didn’t you? _ _  
_ _ L66Tommo: Shit, you aren’t who I think you are, are you? _ _  
_ _ L66Tommo: I’m so sorry, I saw your name in the LGBT chat and thought you were my friend John _ _  
_ _ L66Tommo: Well, this is awkward now _ _  
_ _ L66Tommo: So hello, I’m Louis, and I should leave you alone, but please know I’m incredibly impressed and pleased that you knew who I was quoting upon reading the opening of the poem _

Harry scrambled to type back, because whoever Louis was, he was obviously smart and Harry wanted to get to know him a bit better.

_ StylishStyles: No, please don’t go _ _  
_ _ StylishStyles: It’s only as awkward as you want to make it, especially since the Byron poem you started off with is my all time favorite poem _ _  
_ _ StylishStyles: My name’s Harry, by the way _

Louis wrote back quickly, and Harry lost himself in an intriguing and meandering conversation with the man. He didn’t want it to end when his timer went off.

_ StylishStyles: I’m afraid I have to go for the night _ _  
_ _ StylishStyles: My timer I use to help me track my internet usage just went off and I promised myself I would log off now so I get a decent amount of sleep instead of spending all night chatting _

_ L66Tommo: I should learn from you, it’s almost 2 where I am and my alarm goes off at 7 _ _  
_ _ L66Tommo: There’s a reason I don’t let myself get online as often as I’d like to. It’s addictive! _

Harry checked the time and saw it was nearly eleven, which meant Louis was probably somewhere on the East Coast. It felt kind of nice to be able to place him at least regionally. As he went to type his response, he paused to consider whether he should ask Louis what he wanted to. Finally deciding it couldn’t hurt, he figured he would put it out there.

_ StylishStyles: Well tomorrow is the end of my work week, so I could stay up as late as I’d like tomorrow night, if you’re interested in possibly chatting some more then? _

Biting the side of his finger with nerves, Harry anxiously waited and felt a warmth in his chest when he saw Louis’ reaction.

_ L66Tommo: Right on! I’ll be waiting for you in this chatroom _

_ StylishStyles: I’ll be here _

*~~***~~*

“Hello?” Harry asked, gasping a little bit. He’d heard his phone ringing as he had been unlocking his door, so he’d bolted up the stairs as fast as he could in order to answer before it went to his answering machine.

“Harry, hey. You okay?”

Upon hearing Louis’ voice, Harry smiled and relaxed. “Yeah, I just missed my usual bus, so I had to catch the later one and when I heard the phone ringing, I rushed up the stairs to get it.”

Harry propped the phone between his ear and his shoulder so he could put down his bookbag filled with work assignments he brought home and kick off his shoes without losing his balance. He wanted to get comfortable as quickly as possible. It was November, but with the busses as crowded as they were, Harry always felt sweaty and gross arriving home from work.

“Oh, sorry! I thought I had given you enough time to get home and comfortable.”

Louis’ voice was tinny, but Harry could hear the apology in it. “No, it’s fine! Really. You didn’t have any way of knowing I’d be late today. So what’s going on that I’m deserving of a call on a Wednesday?”

Harry and Louis had regular phone calls twice a week, but those happened on Tuesdays and Saturdays. The rest of the time they chatted in a personal chatroom unless something big happened. It was a schedule Harry had come to rely on ever since they first started talking five months ago.

“Well, remember that meeting I had with my boss that I was worried about?” Louis asked, and Harry immediately froze halfway through unbuttoning his work shirt.

Louis had been incredibly concerned when he’d been given the memo to meet with his boss today. His workplace wasn’t very formal, so the fact he got a written notice ahead of time about a private meeting with his boss didn’t bode well.

“Yeah, I do. Louis, please tell me right away so I can figure out how bummed you are and I can try to figure out what to do to help.”

“Bummed? Harry, I haven’t heard anyone use bummer or bummed since 1993,” Louis laughed. “Anyway, it wasn’t bad. They’re actually sending me out your way for three months to open a new office on the west coast. I’ll be in Oakland next week!”

Harry’s mind was racing. “Oh my God, are you serious?” he asked, hand covering his mouth in surprise. “Louis, this means…”

“Yeah, exactly,” Louis said, and Harry could hear the smile in his voice, even thousands of miles away. “We can finally meet.”

Harry and Louis had been flirting and even talking about possibly dating the past few weeks, but had ultimately decided that until there was a chance of them being at least in the same time zone, that they maybe shouldn’t get too serious. But they’d not only be in the same time zone for months, they’d be in the same  _ city. _

“Where are you staying?” Harry blurted out, not even sharing his thought process with Louis. He hadn’t responded to Louis’ comment about meeting yet, and his mind was already miles away.

Thankfully, Louis was used to Harry and his conversation style by now, so he didn’t act surprised. “Haven’t gotten that far yet, actually. They’re giving me an allotment for my time there, so I was going to start trying to find options tonight.”

“You’ll stay with me,” Harry said, as if it was a no-brainer. Well, for him it was. “I mean, you can if you’d like. It’s small, but it’s a great location no matter where you’re trying to get to and it would save you money in the long run. Plus the place comes with a free tour guide, so…”

“Are you sure?” Louis asked. “I don’t want to put you out. Three months is almost as long as we’ve been chatting, you know?”

Harry smiled. “I know. But I’m sure if you are. Besides, if it doesn’t work out, at least you’re already here and you can look for another place in person.”

“That’s true,” Louis agreed, and Harry could tell by the fact his speech had sped up that he was on board. “Okay, great. Thanks, Harry.”

They chatted and made plans for the rest of the night, Harry getting more and more excited as the reality set in.

They were going to meet.

*~~***~~*

Harry rushed up the stairs to his apartment and ran into his bedroom. Thankfully he’d thought ahead and had cleaned his apartment the night before, because there definitely wasn’t any time for him to do so now. He was already running a little late and he still had to get dressed and make sure he looked alright to meet Louis.

He threw his work shirt into the hamper and hung his trousers over the chair in the corner where he kept his dry clean only items. He picked up the nice new pair of jeans he bought over the weekend and pulled them on before reaching for his new purple shirt. It was lightweight and had a subtle floral print. Technically he’d gotten it from the women’s section, but he loved it and hoped Louis wouldn’t mind. 

Just as he finished undoing the buttons to pull it on, Harry noticed the beige piece of plastic hanging off the side.

“No, no, no, no, no,” Harry muttered, turning the fabric over and seeing the security device was absolutely still connected. “Shit, how am I supposed to get this off now?”

Harry had told Louis he’d wear something purple, his favorite color, and Louis had promised to carry something purple so they would recognize each other at the airport. They hadn’t been able to exchange photos yet, so they didn’t know what the other looked like and thought this to be a romantic way to meet for the first time.

Except now, Harry’s only purple item to wear was useless. He wasn’t going to be able to wear it. 

Harry messed with it for a few moments, hoping against hope that it would somehow magically undo and come off the shirt without destroying the fabric, but there was no hope. He’d have to take it back to the store to get them to take it off.

Harry did buy a second shirt in a similar style, but in blue. He supposed that would have to do. He double checked to be sure the girl who had checked him out had removed the security device from that one. She had, thankfully. 

Quickly pulling it on, Harry checked his watch and cursed. He was going to be late to the airport unless the fates were with him and miraculously cleared up the notoriously awful traffic. 

It was pretty immediately clear that the fates were not with Harry, which was fine. He had still mostly left with enough time to account for the traffic. He just didn’t have the extra buffer he preferred to give himself the opportunity to park and make his way in without a rush. 

By the time he made it to the airport, though, he was already five minutes late. If he rushed, maybe he could still make it to the gate before Louis disembarked. He hoped it wouldn’t be too hard to figure out who Louis was, even without the photos. Especially since he wasn’t wearing the planned color anymore. Louis should still have his something purple though. That should still be enough.

Harry ran inside, apologizing to those he rushed past and hurried to the board listing the gates for all the flights. When he finally found Louis’, his heart dropped. His flight had arrived  _ early. _ Harry was already late for his expected arrival time, now he was particularly late considering his flight had arrived almost half an hour ago.

He quickly memorized the gate number, and whined that of course it was one of the gates furthest from where he was. 

“Excuse me,” he said a few times as he tried to extricate himself from the large group that had descended upon him without his realizing. They surrounded him and all studied the board, looking for various flights and he just needed to be free of them so he could rush to where Louis was waiting for him. He couldn’t have Louis thinking he possibly stood him up. That would be the worst case scenario and he didn’t want to cause Louis that kind of stress.

Finally free of the bystanders, Harry began rushing towards the long hall that led to Louis’ gate. He was maybe halfway there when a personal page came over the loud speaker, causing him to stop so quickly a businessman in a smart suit ran into him, apologizing with an angry stare before he continued on his way.

Harry didn’t care. His name was being broadcast over the entire system.

“This is a call for Harry Styles. Harry Styles, please come to the white courtesy telephone across from gate fourteen. Harry Styles, please come to the white courtesy telephone across from gate fourteen.”

Harry had always dreamed of having his name called over the airport call system, but never thought it would actually happen. He hadn’t even met Louis yet, and he was already making Harry’s dreams come true. 

Even more excited than he already was, Harry peered and could see the sign for gate fourteen. He jogged to get closer and slowed when he saw the white courtesy phone.

Beside it was a man in a gorgeous blue suit, perfectly tailored to his body. Harry hadn’t even seen his face yet, and he already knew the man would be beautiful. His brown hair was in a slightly shaggy cut with bronze tips like Harry had started to see occasionally on the beaches. He hadn’t cared for the style before, but he had a feeling he’d feel differently if this was who he thought it was.

“Oh, please be him,” Harry whispered to himself. Biting his lip, he kept making his way towards the gorgeous man.

Harry was close enough to call out to him, if he was brave enough, when the man turned around.

It was just like a movie. Harry had been transported somehow to a romantic film set, he knew it. It was almost like the man was turning in slow motion, allowing Harry ample time to take in all of the details. He had the most perfect cheekbones, dusted with a little bit of reddish scruff that somehow looked perfect with his bronze tips, but that wasn’t what really caught Harry’s attention. No. That was reserved for the bouquet of a dozen sterling silver roses wrapped in purple tissue paper he was holding. 

Once again, Harry stopped walking, and he really needed to be more careful when he stopped in busy thoroughfares because this time it was a mother with two young children who had to dodge him at the last minute. When he finally finished his apologies, he looked up and locked eyes with the brightest blue eyes he’d ever seen.

There was a question in his eyes before the man’s face cleared and he asked, “Harry?”

Harry couldn’t find his voice somehow despite the fact he’d just used it. Instead, he just stood there, breathing hard and nodding. Swallowing harshly, still not quite able to believe his luck, Harry cleared his throat. 

“Sorry I’m not wearing purple. There was a bit of an issue with my planned outfit.”

Louis’ eyes scanned Harry’s entire body, and he felt like he was on fire. He’d been so worried about what Louis would think of him physically, but any concern regarding that was tossed to the wayside based on Louis’ smile and wide eyes.

“I think you look perfect,” Louis said, leaning down to pick up a briefcase before walking towards Harry. “These are for you. Sorry the paper doesn’t match your outfit anymore.”

Harry was so overwhelmed. This was so perfect, he thought he might cry. “That’s fine,” he squeaked out. “Do you have luggage checked?”

Louis nodded, not once taking his eyes off of Harry. “Yeah. I might have packed my entire closet, but it still doesn’t quite feel like enough.”

Smiling and smelling the roses, Harry looked up at Louis through his lashes and blushed from the heat in Louis’ gaze.

“I’m sure it’s fine,” Harry said. When he turned to head to the baggage claim, Louis stepped up beside him and placed his hand on the small of Harry’s back. It felt both natural and like he was taking all of Harry’s nerve endings and aligning them to react only to his touch. It felt ridiculous and entirely too soon for his body to be adapting to Louis’ presence and touch like it was, especially when they hadn’t even hugged or anything yet, but also it felt like it was only right. Louis had come into Harry’s life and changed everything from the moment he sent those few lines of Byron’s poetry. Of course it was the same when they actually met.

Once they found the carousel for his flight, it wasn’t hard to grab Louis’ luggage. They were the only two bags left on the neverending track since he’d waited so long for Harry. They were quiet as they made their way to Harry’s car, just sneaking peeks at each other before smiling at the ground or looking straight ahead again as if they were school children.

“This is me,” Harry finally said as he stopped behind his old, brown Buick. He unlocked the trunk and eyed Louis’ bags. “I think one will easily fit in here, but the other might have to go in the back seat.”

Louis nodded and hefted the larger one into the trunk, making sure to angle it so the hinges of the trunk wouldn’t be impeded by it. Once the trunk was closed again, Harry turned to unlock the passenger side doors, but Louis’ hand on his upper arm made him pause.

Glancing at Louis’ hand, Harry looked up at Louis who had a soft smile on his face.

“Do you mind… it’s okay if you say no… but I was kind of hoping for a hug. It feels like it’s been ages since we started talking, and it still feels a bit surreal that I’m here with you now. I’m kind of hoping that hugging you will help it sink in a little more.”

Harry immediately set the roses on top of the car, not even waiting to be sure they stayed where he set them before pulling Louis forcefully into him.

Louis didn’t hesitate, either. Harry quickly felt like he was enveloped by his presence, despite him being slightly smaller than he was. The hug was all encompassing and it felt more real and right than anything he’d experienced with a partner before. Even with the hint of stale, recycled air clinging to him, the lingering scent of Louis’ aftershave on his neck felt like it had always been a part of Harry’s life. It was like a scent memory that was so settled into Harry’s being, he couldn’t recall when exactly it had rooted itself there. It was just a part of him.

“Thank you,” Louis whispered. 

The moment felt sacred, somehow, and Harry didn’t want to break it, so he continued to hold on and whispered back. “Ditto.”

*~~***~~*

“Harry, we’re going to be late!” Louis yelled after checking his watch. He pulled on his Puma tennis shoes and double checked his brand new carpenter pants in the mirror. He’d wanted them for awhile, but still wasn’t sure he could pull them off. Harry claimed he looked great in them and that they fit his ass perfectly, but Louis was still nervous wearing them. Especially since they were heading out to dinner with Harry’s mom and Robin.

The two had gotten engaged earlier that year, and while they didn’t know when they were getting get married, they wanted to take a celebratory vacation together and had decided on California. Louis and Harry had been dating for almost nine months, and Louis had permanently moved in with Harry four months earlier when he was able to finally make his transfer to the Bay Area office official, so he was finally going to meet two of the most important people in Harry’s life.

He didn’t want to mess it all up by being late.

Harry rushed out of the bathroom, his hair falling perfectly onto his forehead. In his button down shirt and wide leg jeans, he looked like a heart throb meant for one of the teen magazines that Louis sometimes saw his sisters reading when he visited home. Louis had no idea what he’d done to get so lucky.

“It’s still a shock to me to see you without your bronze highlights,” Harry said, smiling at Louis and kissing the top of his head as he passed the bench to grab his own shoes.

Louis scrunched his nose. “It was time to say goodbye to those. I felt like they were bringing too much attention to the gray that keeps sneaking into my hair.”

Harry shook his hair out of his eyes and looked at Louis fondly. “Never. I love your gray hair. It makes you look distinguished,” he said, waggling his eyebrows.

Louis rolled his eyes. “Distinguished is just another word for fucking old.”

Harry smirked, making his dimple cave into his cheek as he shook his head. “You’re always twisting my words.”

Louis leaned over and kissed his cheek when Harry bent to tie his Doc Martens. “Am not. I’m just saying what you really mean. Now let’s go and meet your mother and Robin.”

Harry grabbed Louis around his waist as Louis tried to pass him, pulling him in for a soft kiss. “I love you, you know?”

Louis hummed, leaning in for another kiss, then one more. “Yeah. I know.”

“Good,” Harry said, his green eyes bright and clear like they were whenever he was happy. 

“I love you too, just FYI,” Louis said, smiling back. “But that doesn’t mean I’m okay with you making us late. I will not make a bad impression tonight.”

“Yeah, alright. Let’s go.”

Harry leaned in for one last kiss, a light smack of Louis’ ass, and then headed for the door. 

Shaking his head, Louis laughed and followed quickly behind.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it :D If you did, please consider leaving kudos, a nice comment, or [reblogging the fic post](https://lululawrence.tumblr.com/post/623542371474407424/talk-the-night-through-by-lululawrence-harry). Thank you!


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